Soul Scattered and Reaped
by theunknownvoice
Summary: Karin cannot control the power that allows her to unconsciously open a portal between Soul Society and the living world. All she knows is that her fate is tied to his and that there isn’t much time left for either of them.
1. First Time Opening the Gate

Soul Scattered and Reaped

A/N: I loved the filler. I know many people didn't but I found it fascinating. Anyway, the pairing is odd and if you only ship HitsuKarin or ChadKarin don't read. I wanted to go outside of the box for this one.

Chapter 1: The First Time Opening the Gate

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Karin didn't say a word to Yuzu as she entered the house. She ignored her father attacking her brother. She ignored the smelly pushy at the bottom of the stairs. She just went into her room and closed the door.

Her day had been the usual. School was too boring and her friends were becoming dull. She didn't mean it in a mean way. It was just a fact. Even soccer practice was becoming boring and Don Kanoji's show wasn't giving her an outlet.

How often had she said that she couldn't see spirits? She couldn't feel them. They didn't exist. They were just imaginary beings. She knew about her brother. She knew about Ichigo and months ago she had told him that she knew. Still that didn't change anything.

She could sense the battle going on around her and she wasn't a part of it. She couldn't be. She hated that but she could live with it. She could live with not being part of the battle. But she couldn't live with this feeling.

She had noticed Ichigo's continuing detachment from them. It wasn't that he didn't care about their family. She knew he loved them. It was just that they didn't understand the world he was living in. They didn't understand him anymore and he was beginning not to understand them.

Ichigo had been the only person who understood her other than their mother. Yuzu was her total opposite and Karin had assigned herself the job of protecting Yuzu since they were small. Yuzu could step into Masaki's shoes but Karin wasn't like those two beautiful women in her family. She was tougher and made of stronger material and motherly instincts were not natural to her. She was more like her father and brother than she wanted to admit.

The tentative knock on the door. Karin could see Yuzu biting her lip.

"Karin-chan?"

"Go away Yuzu."

"Karin-chan, what's wrong?"

Karin didn't answer.

"Yuzu go downstairs and make dinner."

"Otousan?"

"I'll talk to Karin."

Ishin didn't wait outside the door or try to be polite.

"You know and I don't know whether that's good or bad. Ichigo and Rukia left to go after a hollow so why don't you and I come clean?"

Karin turned to look at him bewildered. "Since when—"

"Since the beginning just like you."

"Ichigo—"

"Doesn't know I know and I don't want you telling him. I already guess that you are feeling isolated. There's not much I can do about that. It won't always be this way Karin."

Karin didn't say anthing.

"One day you will find someone who will understand you just like Ichigo and Rukia understand each other. It will be deeper than the understanding between siblings."

Isshin pulled his silent daughter close. For more than the first time he wondered why he had allowed himself to have children. They were torn between two worlds, Soul Society and Earth. It was more evident in Karin than in the others. Ichigo's heart and soul belonged to the shinigami and Soul Society. Yuzu belonged to Karakura Town and earth. She would always feel the pull of Soul Society but she knew she did not belong there.

Karin didn't belong to one world but to both. She would forever be pulled from both directions.

For Karin the remainder of the day was spent trying not to think too hard about her situation. She helped at the clinic and helped Yuzu make dinner. She wanted to pretend to be happy but instead she stayed in silence. There was nothing to pretend about.

The dinner table was uncomfortable as Yuzu tried to make small talk.

"Ichi-nii are you and Rukia-chan going out again?"

"Yeah. We didn't finish our project for school."

The lie came out so well practiced but Karin still flinched. Yuzu merely nodded and smiled. The mock play of an ordinary family at dinner grated on Karin's nerves.

"Is Orihime going to be there? I need to return her notebook to her."

Karin saw the look pass between Ichigo and Rukia.

Rukia smiled at Yuzu. "I'm going to see Orihime-chan. Ichigo has do his part of the project alone so I'm doing my part with Orihime."

Karin didn't want to hear anymore. She pulled her plate up from the table and left. She didn't see the look exchanged between Rukia and Ichigo as she left. Yuzu moved to follow her up the stairs.

"Sit down," Isshin said. "Let Karin be alone. She has a lot to think about."

Karin sat in the room in the dark. Her thoughts brooding and her mind taking itself out of the picture. She allowed herself to feel something she hadn't done since her mother died. Tears silently streamed down her face. As long as she didn't make a noise she wasn't crying.

Karin found herself in a dusty area. The houses surrounding her where ancient built like the houses of the Edo period. She stared around her in shock.

People watched her in the shadows. She could sense them but she couldn't see them. She could hear their whispers and one word repeated ryoka.

"Where am I?"

"You're in Hanging Dog district."

She turned to see a young man behind her. His eyes were a pale blue and he had a hat on his head. His clothes were old fashioned and the blue coat on his shoulders was slightly tattered. Karin felt an aching in the back of her head and a tinge of recognition.

"How did you get here?"

"I don't know. Last I knew I was in my room in Karakura Town."

He grabbed her arm pulling her away from the houses. Karin swung her fist to connect with his head but he dodged.

"You're tough. But I'm not your enemy and this place isn't safe. Especially for someone who doesn't know where they are or how they got here."

"What do you mean? LET GO!"

She swung out him her legs connecting briefly with his shoulder. He winced slightly as he caught her leg as she was doing a spin kick.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said quietly.

Karin paused.

"Look you ended up here unexpectedly. Those people don't like outsiders especially not people who appeared in midair."

"I—I just appeared? How is that possible?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. Normally you would've been escorted in but….Do you remember how it happened?"

"'It?'"

"Your death."

"I'm not dead. I can't be."

Karin sat down next to him on the doorstep. Most of the children living at that house smiled at him and asked if he had brought them candy. He smiled back pulling out the package from his pocket giving it to them.

"Why do you bring them candy?"

"Like most people in this district they have no one to care for them. They live in little tribes taking care of each other. Most of those kids won't live very long."

"Why doesn't someone do something?"

He looked at her sadly. "Most people here only care about themselves."

It scared her. She could see plainly that he did what he could but…She couldn't imagine Yuzu in a place like this. Her sister would never survive. Even on the doorstep people were looking at her darkly. She could feel their intentions and those intentions were far from good. Once they saw him though they left her alone. It was as if they were afraid of him which Karin thought hilarious since he didn't look threatening. He—who was he?

"What's your name so I who know what to call you?"

"Shouldn't you give me your name first since you want to know mine."

She stamped her foot on the ground. "I didn't think it mattered."  
He laughed as her face became redder as she stamped louder. "It matters. I don't think I can have you calling me by name and I have to call you call girl. What sense would that make?"

She frowned. "I'm Karin. Kurosaki Karin."

He smiled at her. "Cain."

Then she woke up and he faded from her vision.

To be continued…


	2. The Realitity of Dreams

Chapter 2: The Reality of Dreams

The dream stayed with Karin. His blue eyes hadn't been cold or freezing. They had lit up from the inside as if he had some secret light. Just like her mother had. Like Ichigo has.

He had given her some peace and if it was only a dream she was grateful. He must be something her imagination had conjured up to give her comfort. No one ever made her feel that safe except for Ichigo.

She could hear her brother yelling at Rukia as he stubbed his toe on the shoes she had left out. Rukia was always leaving her sandals out and at night she would frequently sneak into Ichigo's bedroom and sleep in the closet. When the two were alone, Karin would often hear them talking about Rukia sleeping in closet. Karin had tried to ignore it. She liked Rukia and she was glad Ichigo had her.

"How did you sleep?" Yuzu asked when she saw Karin.

"Better than most nights. You?"

"I dreamed of Mom," Yuzu said hesitantly.

Karin's eyes opened wider. "What happened in your dream?"

"She was just smiling. She told me she was proud of us and then she disappeared. I woke up crying. I wanted her to come back."

Karin stared. She felt guilt about her own dream. Cain, he had offered some form of comfort. His treatment of the children had reminded her that innocents needed to be protected. Yuzu was the most innocent person Karin knew. Her and Orihime Inoue.

"It will be ok."

Karin went back to sleep expecting to just have no dreams. She had been happier today than she could remember being in a long time. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Her eyes closed and she once again found herself in the familiar dusty landscape.

"I didn't know you were coming back."

She turned to look at Cain. "I didn't think I was either. I figured I'd be in nothingness or just sleeping."

He laughed softly. "I kind of figured there was nothing after I died. I figured we just ceased to exist. Imagine my surprise when I found myself here."

"H-how did you die?"

She doesn't know if it's rude to ask that or not. He stops laughing and she's afraid she's offended him.

"I was stupid. I didn't listen to my teacher and my impulsiveness got me killed. Come on let me show you around. Will you be staying this time?"

"I don't know. But I didn't like to learn this place. For some reason it's familiar."

_And so are you._ Even if he was only a dream she didn't want to scare him off. Right now he was one of the few good things in her life.

Karin sighed after the fourth night of dreams. She had thought that her imagination had gone into overdrive. The history classes on the Edo period sinking further into her subconscious making her reenact things. But the world Cain spoke of was so foreign she couldn't imagine it.

She spent her days wanting to go to sleep. Anything to get back to the Hanging Dog district and the world Cain was slowly showing her. She didn't care anymore. She went on autopilot to school, to soccer, and to Don Kanjou's. She worked her shifts at the hospital in a mechanical way. No one noticed except her father. He seemed to watch her more closely but at night….it was worth it. It was worth every bit of it to go to that new world and be with her new friend. Even Cain wasn't real he was her friend.

"You're happier today," he remarked.

Karin grinned. She had taught him a little bit about soccer the night before. He had surprised her by actually showing her some of the moves she had taught him.

"It isn't often I actually have someone listen to me. You practiced," she said grinning.

"Of course I did. I didn't have anything else to do."

"You sound like you get bored a lot."

He shrugged. "It's not that hard for me to survive here. Koga taught me about survival and if I had listened to him, I would still be alive."

"How's that possible?"

He didn't get a chance to answer before the hollow descended in the midst of the district. Cain shoved her quickly out of the way.

"You need to run now," he shouted at her.

"What about you?"

"I've got to stay. I have a better chance of holding this thing off until a shinigami can get here."

"What do you mean?"

He didn't answer her as the hollow clawed her leg. Karin screamed but took off running. She could try something but she knew that these things fed off of spiritual pressure.

She stared at Cain as green life engulfed him. A creature came out of him and began to attack the hollow. It was only when the shinigami's came that he stopped.

"What are you?" she asked once they were back at his house.

"Eat the honey. It will make you feel better," he said handing her a honey comb that he had bought from the market.

She chewed slowly. "What are you?"

"A bount."

She felt her consciousness pulling at her. Someone was entering her room. She could sense it. She woke with a start and stared down at her legs doging as Yuzu rushed to hug her.

The mark on legs showed the scar and she could taste the honey he had made her eat on her lips.

She shivered. Her dreams were real.

To be continued…


	3. Truths that Haunt

Chapter 3: Truths that Haunt

It was horrifying to realize that everything was real. For two days she didn't sleep. She just went through life has mechanically as she had before.

_Laughing blue eyes turned towards her. It was only her third night her in the Hanging Dog District and Cain was sitting on the porch of his house waiting for her._

"_You always have that expression on your face when you get here," he said laughing hard._

"_What the hell are you talking about?" she demanded._

_He took her proffered hand and pulled himself up. "You always look so surprised."_

"_Maybe I am surprised. After the first time I didn't think I'd end up back here."_

Still other memories paraded in her mind at the least inconvenient times. She remembered the feel of his skin or the fact that he was very territorial over his coat.

"_It was a gift. The first gift I was ever given."_

She remembered how he smiled when he didn't think she was looking.

"_Baka! Did you not pay attention to how I demonstrated that move?"_

_He glared at her. "I watched you but you don't explain anything. You just do and then expect me to learn."_

_She frowned and put her hands on her hips. "WATCH CLOSELY! LEARN, BAKA!"_

_He continued to glare._

He hadn't even been angry then just surprised that she had a short temper. He had a short one too. They didn't clash often.

"_What did you think you were doing?"_

"_I don't get it. Why do they just stare it me like I'm a freak?" Karin demanded. She was so tired of the people on the porches watching her from the shadows._

"_You didn't come in escorted," Cain replied for the millionth time._

"_What does that have to do with anything?"_

_He stared at her incredulously. "People always are escorted here on arrival. Besides women have escorts all the time. It's indecent for them to travel alone."_

"_What century are you from? Woman travel alone all the time! The days of the feudal woman are over."_

_Cain stared at her. "What year is it in your world?"_

"_2010."_

"_I've been dead that long," he said in disbelief._

"_You're not dead!" Karin yelled._

"_I'm definitely not alive," he snapped back._

It was a minor argument and they had laughed afterwards. It was hard to stay mad at Cain. He didn't care to keep a fight going. Instead he just maintained he was right when they both knew he wasn't. No that wasn't always true but she be damned before she admitted herself wrong.

"Karin-chan?"

Karin turned to look at Yuzu who was still in her uniform from the hospital.

"What is it?" Karin asked annoyed.

"Who's Cain?"

Karin's eyes widened. "What?"

Yuzu poked her fingers together bowing her head. "I heard you say Cain. Who he is?"

"A friend, a really good friend."

"Oh? How come I haven't met him?" Yuzu asked quietly.

"He doesn't go to school here. He's my penpal from Russia. He's learning Japanese. I signed up a while back."

"Really? I want a penpal too. It sounds fun."

"Yeah," Karin murmured as her twin chattered on, "it's fun."

Karin groaned as she headed to her bedroom. She had been devastatingly lonely for the last two days. Even with Yuzu's constant chatter she had felt hollow.

She closed her eyes. She needed him. She needed Cain. He made her feel alive and nothing else did.

Ichigo sat outside Karin's room with Rukia. For the last few nights he had been chasing hollows across town and had noticed that the twins' room was radiating retsai.

"It's their powers. Yuzu's absolutely dormant but Karin—" Rukia said gazing at the instruments.

The readings were off the charts. Karin was still in basic sleep but the minute she hit REM she vanished right from her room. The gate to soul society opening as she unconsciously slipped through.

Rukia stared as the retai reader began going berserk. It made shrill noises and she stared panicky at it.

"Rukia, what the hell is happening?"

"I don't know. But we need to get in their quick."

She grabbed him and dragged him in the bedroom.

Karin could make out the faint outline of the Edo style houses. She could see Cain sitting on the porch. She moved to run towards him when she felt herself being pulled back. Her eyes snapped open. She was once again her bedroom.

"What the hell was that?"

"What are you two doing in my room?" Karin screamed kicking Ichigo.

Yuzu oblivious to everything continued to snore.

"Karin-chan," Rukia said trying to break up the glaring Kurosakis, "do you know that you disappeared? You only reappeared when we entered the room."

Karin stared. "What?"

"It's true! You vanished in thin air," Ichigo replied.

He was so tired. Life had been somewhat normal lately. With Rukia around he was actually happy and then Karin had to go and develop some weird power. It never ended. None of it ever ended.

"I knew the dreams were strange. It was only a few nights ago that I realized they were real," Karin said quietly.

"What dreams?" Ichigo and Rukia asked in unison.

"I end up in the same place. It's called the Hanging Dog District."

Rukia went pale. "I grew up there."

Karin stared at her and then turned to her brother.

"What's a bount, Ichi-ni?"

To be continued…

A/N: I know not a lot of Cain but this is where the plot starts to thicken. Don't worry though we'll see bount-boy next chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed.


	4. A Parting

Chapter 4: A Parting

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

The horror on her brother's face was enough to tell Karin that a bount was nothing good.

"Where did you hear that term?" her brother demanded his voice growing louder.

"What is a bount? Tell me so I can understand."

"What the hell! What have you gotten yourself into? The only bount left is Koga. The others are all dead especially after Kariya tried to destroy Soul Society," Ichigo yelled.

"Why do you want to know Karin?" Rukia asked calmly.

If she trusted Ichigo, Rukia knew the younger girl would only refuse to answer. Ichigo had a thin thread of patience that kept his temper in check and Karin was just as bad. When Kurosakis fought one hid behind Yuzu. The younger twin was known for being the calm and collected one among her family of hot-heads. Right now Rukia could see the fires burning in Ichigo and Karin. She had better extinguish them both now before things got out of hand.

"I'll tell you everything Karin if you answer our questions," Rukia said diplomatically.

"RUKIA!"

"You will nee-chan?"

"Of course."

"It all began with a dream…"

When she had finished Karin had realized that there were things in her voice she had not wanted to reveal like her trust in that world, her trust in Cain and her loyalty to him. She couldn't imagine a world now without Cain. She couldn't…not when the waking world, her world, was so lonely. With Cain there was no loneliness.

Sure they fought like cats and dogs. They spent her nights talking to each other, playing, fighting and arguing but there was something so necessary about those moments that she couldn't help but feel that if Cain would disappear so would she. It was integral, part of the sum of who she was that Cain was present.

Ichigo…she could see the horror in his eyes. She could feel him trying to find a loophole from answering her questions. He didn't like this but Ichigo had Rukia. Yuzu had her friends at school. Who did Karin have? Who in all the world matter to her half as much as Cain did?

"We have to prevent you from going back and forth," Ichigo said. "Who know what could be following you through your gate."

"But…" Karin stared at him wishing the words would form more easily.

"Besides you don't really know this guy!" Ichigo yelled.

"Baka!" Karin screamed back. "I don't feel anymore. Don't you understand! The days are too long and life has so little meaning."

"You need to know what a bount is," Rukia said softly interrupting the glaring brother and sister.

It took hours but Rukia and Ichigo explained Kariya and Ran T'ao. As Karin listened she heard more and more about the true horror of being bount. But of Cain they had no mention.

"So you don't know who my friend is?"

"No," Rukia said soberly.

"He might be the student Koga mentioned," Ichigo said at last.

He could remember the older bount's tale and his horror of what had happened to prodigy. He told the story as he had heard it. Repeating Koga's warnings about young men dying and the blood of a child.

Karin nodded taking all this in.

"I have to go back," she said softly.

"What! Why?" her brother demanded.

"I can't just stop going. It is not something I control and even if it was I'd…"

Damn! The tears were building and once again she could feel real anger at herself. She was not to cry. Not now when there was still a chance that she could keep Cain in her life.

_They had been sitting outside on the steps of the local food market. The sun was lazy in Soul Society, Karin often mused but it was warm out. Too warm for Cain to wearing his ridiculous jacket but he wouldn't take it off. They were both having popsicles due to the heat._

"_My mom used to buy us popsicles when it was too hot out," Karin said simply as she paid for them._

_She getting used to packing things in her pajamas when she went to bed. While Cain always had a change of clothing for her on her arrival, she had realized rather quickly whatever she had with her at night usually came through the portal with her. Like her floppy, the well loved rabbit suffy, had caused Cain to tease her mercilessly for the night._

"_What was your mother like?" she asked quietly._

_Cain stiffened immediately. "I don't have many good memories of her. She—"_

"_What?"_

"_My past is a horror story. I don't like to talk about. Until my teacher no one had ever cared for me. No one had ever given me worth. When I was found, I was living on the streets stealing to make my way through the world. I…Don't make me talk of it Karin. I can't. Not even to you. And I trust you more than I've ever trusted anyone."_

_She felt his rejection run through her in a cold through wave. Why? But in his eyes there was pain and she wasn't a fool. Her eyes held the same sharp gleams of loss. He wouldn't speak of them because they had hurt him and that was enough to make her heart swell with hate at the thought._

_No, he was her friend. Hers alone and for that she would never destroy what he was._

"_Keep your secrets," she said softly. "I have my own and I wouldn't want you to force them out of me."_

_His hand clasped hers._

"_One day, I'll tell you everything. One day, when I can."_

"Please," she said looking at Rukia. "I can't just stop. I need that world. I need to go there because no one else understands me."

"I do," Ichigo said.

"But you have Rukia. She knows you on a different level and while I could become a shinigami and join your battle, I'm still me. I still need to be seen as Karin not as the motherless child, or the soccer player, or Ichigo Kurosaki's kid sister. I'm me and Cain is the only person I've ever met that sees me as that."

"Hollows will be attracted to you," Rukia said quickly. "The retsai you put out is causing them to gravitate. I'll take you to Yourichi-sama in the next few days. She should be able to teach you to control it but the portal is dangerous."

Karin gulped. She would learn to control this but what if they told her she could never use the portal again? The danger might be too great and she would have to not go through again. Could she do that? Stay on this side of the portal in a world that was beginning to mean less and less to her as Soul Society filled the open wounds and gave her a home? Could she when in her heart she knew that only because of Cain was she able to make it through the day?

After Ichigo and Rukia left, Karin sat in the darkness for a long while. Slowly she drifted off to sleep.

Cain was sitting where he always was. Waiting for her like he always did.

"I didn't think you'd come after you were pulled out," he said softly.

"My brother and his friend were there when I disappeared. They're afraid. They think I should learn to control it if I don't I might lead hollows to me."

His blue eyes narrowed as he absorbed the story. "Maybe is better this way. I'll have to leave Hanging Dog District soon anyway.

"What? Why?"

"The other people are becoming afraid. They know I am not a soul reaper. My soul is different from theirs and someone has began telling them that bounts devour souls. That we are vampires in the true sense of the word and they are afraid of me."

"You've never eaten a soul though," Karin said knowingly.

"No, I was very young when I died. I was found out as a bount when I was small but I've never consumed. It wasn't necessary and my teacher was going to show me how when I was ready. I never reached that point."

Karin swallowed. "Where will you go?"

"I don't know. There is nothing here for me anymore. If I go to the Serreiti, they will banish me or maybe even kill me. They have no love of bounts. I don't know. Perhaps, I'll wander to another district."

Karin grabbed his hand. Why could she sit there calmly? She needed him and he needed her on so a basic a level that their survival hinged on. Had he not told of the loneliness before she had come? The days when he waited on for some sign that he was where he was supposed to be.\

"Why can't I take you back with me? Why?"

Cain shook his head. "I don't belong in your world. You don't belong in mine either. Perhaps if I had met your soul in my time then things would be different. If that had happened then maybe…"

This felt too much like goodbye. Too much like forever was slipping through her fingers and the pain was eating at her.

_No!_ she screamed inside.

She would not loose this.

"We'll think of something," she said softly.

He smiled at her weakly before taking his coat off. Gently he wrapped it around her. She stared at him. This was the prized coat that he never took off. The one he had told her that villagers had tried to take from him and his teacher had given to him.

"_My first gift," he had told her smiling._

"I want you to take this. I don't want you cold or alone or sad in your world. It wouldn't be right," Cain said softly. "If I can't be with you then part of me should go. It's only fair."

Karin moved quickly pressing her lips firmly against his. It was a simple kiss but it burned with longing.

"I love you," she whispered.

The tears burned in her eyes as she pulled the coat closer.

"I love you as well. I will work to find a way for us but if there is none then I want you safe. Find someone in your world Karin. Someone who will love as much as I do."

She felt her world pulling her back. She wanted to scream that no one would love her as much as he did. No one would fill the space he had in heart. No one would understand her better than him.

She sobbed. The tears streaming fully down her face and her bellows waking the house. She may not have cried since her mother but now she could feel the coldness of the situation. No, she would not hold back.

She felt Yuzu's arms and for once Karin Kurosaki let her sister hold her. 

To be continued…


End file.
